Week 7 ; Ch.3 #3

In the beginning of chapter 3, it talks about what language is and the different functions of language. Language is defined as, "a system of communication that involves a set of arbitrary symbols, whether spoken, written, or nonverbal (sign language)". There are 6,800 known languages in the word, but they all use the same basic universal grammatical rules. Four different functions are; informative, expressive, directive, or ceremonial. Informative language is language that is either true or false, directive is used to direct or influence actions, expressive communicates feelings and attitudes, and ceremonial is used in particular formal circumstances. An example of informative language is, "San Jose State is located in downtown San Jose". An example of directive would if someone told you to do something, like, "Close the door". Expressive language is usually written into poems or religious worships. An example of ceremonial language would be saying "I do" in a marriage ceremony.  I personally never knew or thought about the different functions of language, so I'm glad I learned about it in this chapter.